Prisoner told fellow inmate he was involved in killing of teenager, court hears
Tanesha Melbourne-Blake was standing with friends on Chalgrove Road in Tottenham, north London, on the evening of Easter Monday in 2018 when a car pulled up and an occupant opened fire, jurors were told.
Two years after the shooting, police made a breakthrough in the case when a prisoner at HMP Pentonville, north London, came forward to report an alleged confession made by Marcus La Croix, 37.
La Croix had been 'boasting' and 'showing off' to fellow inmates in 2020, the Old Bailey heard.
The inmate told police La Croix admitted the killing after the two men spent time together and became close.
Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC said: 'Some time in 2020, Mr La Croix told this other prisoner he had been involved in the murder of a 16 or 17-year-old girl.
'Whatever that witness's reasons for making that disclosure – what he did report was both credible and, insofar as he was able to provide detail, reliable.
'So far as Mr La Croix is concerned – it starts really where I ended – he told somebody he was in prison with precisely what happened.
'If you work backwards, there is nothing inconsistent that makes what he told that prisoner impossible.
'There are details he provided that he could not have got anywhere else.
'When you come to hear that evidence, you may seek to consider: how could he have known?'
Jurors were also shown CCTV of an attack on La Croix the day before the shooting by members of a rival gang.
Referring to the incident, Ms Ledward said: 'There is the motive for the Tinseltown attack – a very personal slight on him – which the prosecution say he would not have been prepared to let lie.'
The prosecution alleges La Croix and co-defendant Michael Clarke, 35, were among a group of men who travelled from Wood Green into rival territory that night before fatal shots were fired.
Jurors were shown CCTV footage of the silver Vauxhall Meriva that the shots were fired from.
The vehicle was later traced to a man who had bought it for £500 in cash under a false name.
It was allegedly acquired with the intention of avoiding identification, the court heard.
The court also heard how the Vauxhall was set alight days later outside a housing estate in Barnet, north London.
Ms Ledward said it was 'plainly a deliberate fire designed to destroy either the vehicle or any traces of the offences'.
Forensic evidence later confirmed the bullets were fired from the same self-loading pistol – a Czech-made CZ Model 50.
La Croix and Clarke deny murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
The trial continues.
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Mother of murdered schoolboy fears she may ‘never recover' from son's loss
The mother of a teenager who was stabbed to death on a bus emotionally told a court she may 'never recover' from the loss of her son. Aspiring rapper Kelyan Bokassa called, 'I want my mum' after he was mortally wounded in front of horrified passengers aboard a route 472 bus in Woolwich, south-east London, on 7 January. He was stabbed around 27 times in the attack that lasted around 14 seconds. Two youths, aged 16, appeared at the Old Bailey to be sentenced on Friday after they pleaded guilty to Kelyan's murder and having a knife. In a moving victim impact statement, Kelyan's mother Marie Bokassa said: 'I stand here not just as a mother but as a broken soul whose life changed forever the day my child's life was taken from me by another child.' Speaking through tears and wearing black, she added: 'At least my son is at peace, and those two kids are going to have a really tough time. 'I ask myself what has happened to those two boys that has resulted in that terrible act of violence and I cannot imagine how can they be so angry. 'What they did was horrific and I do not know what has led them to do this and maybe I will never.' 'That moment of violence may have lasted seconds but its consequences are eternal,' Ms Bokassa said. She told the court her son had loved food, cooking and football and brought her flowers on her birthday. 'He would put music on and we'd dance together in the living room,' she said. 'He loved Mr Bean, which we watched together, and he would laugh. I miss his laugh, miss his voice. 'I will never see his children or be a grandmother and he will never have his own family.' Ms Bokassa added that she had spent her son's 15th birthday at his graveside and that she missed everything about him. She said that some people in her neighbourhood cannot look at her and she is petrified to take public transport, particularly the 472 bus. 'I feel judged,' Ms Bokassa added. 'Maybe I will never recover, all I know is I will live and I will have to be strong for my son and I will have to constantly find a coping mechanism,' she continued. 'He would want me to try and solve youth crime and not give up on my life. 'My son loved me and would want me to go on with my life. 'These two young boys took my son's life without hesitation, they will now have to face the consequences of their actions here today. 'My only hope is they get the help they need before they ever get released into society.' In a statement, Kelyan's father, Hashim Mohamed, said his son's death had prompted him and his wife to consider 'youth violence' and to 'think politically' about knife crime. 'I never expected Kelyan's life to end tragically, to the contrary I believed he would one day thrive as an elite athlete or even as a creative,' he wrote in a statement read out on his behalf by prosecutor Deanna Heer KC. The hearing was attended by around 20 members of the public, who filled the public gallery, all of whom wore black while some hid their faces and sobbed loudly as CCTV footage of the attack was shown to the court. Kelyan's mother left the hearing briefly while the video of her son's murder was played.
The Independent
11 hours ago
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Machete-wielding youths who smiled as they fatally stabbed schoolboy jailed for life
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The Independent
12 hours ago
- The Independent
Mother of machete attack victim says ‘streets are bleeding' after killers jailed
The mother of a 14-year-old boy killed in a machete attack on a bus declared 'our streets are bleeding' as his smiling killers were locked up for life. Aspiring rapper Kelyan Bokassa said 'I want my mum' after he was mortally wounded in front of horrified passengers aboard the 472 bus in Woolwich, south-east London, on January 7. Two youths, aged 16, pleaded guilty to Kelyan's murder and having a knife. In a televised sentencing on Friday, Judge Mark Lucraft KC detained them for life and set minimum terms of 15 years and 10 months. Judge Lucraft said Kenyan's death was a 'senseless loss' of yet another young life to the 'horrors of knife crime'. One of the youths in the dock of the Old Bailey smiled as he was sent down. Outside court, Kelyan's mother Marie Bokassa issued a call for action to end the bloodshed. In a statement read on her behalf, she said: 'To the Government and authorities. How many mothers like me, will it take? How many children must we bury before you act with urgency? 'Where are you? Where were you? I had no support from you when my son was alive and no support now that he is dead. A letter of condolence doesn't mean anything to us. 'Our streets are bleeding. Our cemeteries are full. Our prisons are overflowing. Pain and loss is becoming normalised. 'Our streets are no longer safe for our children. Public transport is no longer safe. Schools are no longer safe. You have lost control of London.' She added: 'To the young people who carry knives, I beg you to stop before you raise up blades. Think of your own mother. Think of the mothers who will cry every night, like I do, will scream into her pillow, who will walk past her child's empty room and collapse with grief. 'Don't let a moment of anger steal your future. Don't let the streets raise you in a way your mother never would. There is no power in death, there is only loss.' 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Ms Heer went on: 'Kelyan Bokassa had no time to reach for his own knife, which remained in his trousers, and instead tried in vain to protect himself with his school bag. 'There were several other passengers on the top deck who fled in panic when they realised what was happening. They describe hearing intense screaming from the back of the bus and the victim shouting, 'Help. Help. I've been stabbed'. 'They describe both defendants making quick, forceful movements towards Kelyan Bokassa as he tried to defend himself.' The bus driver activated his emergency alarm just before 2.27pm and the defendants fled when the vehicle stopped at Woolwich Ferry. Kelyan stumbled down the aisle to the stairs, where another passenger went to help him. The boy was heard to say: 'Take me to my mum's. I want my mum,' before his legs buckled, bleeding heavily from a wound to the leg. Members of the public flagged down a passing police car and officers found Kelyan had collapsed and his body was limp. Despite attempts to save him, Kelyan died at the scene at 3.23pm. One of the machetes was thrown into the River Thames, but was later recovered by police. The defendants were quickly identified from CCTV on the bus and arrested. In a victim impact statement read in court, Ms Bokassa said: 'At least my son is at peace, and those two kids are going to have a really tough time. 'I ask myself what has happened to those two boys that has resulted in that terrible act of violence, and I cannot imagine how can they be so angry. 'What they did was horrific and I do not know what has led them to do this, and maybe I will never.' The court heard both defendants have previous convictions for carrying blades in public. Samantha Yelland, senior crown prosecutor for CPS London North, said: 'This was a savage and sustained attack on a 14-year-old boy which was carried out in broad daylight on a busy bus. 'We worked closely with police and were thankfully helped by clear CCTV evidence which both placed the defendants on the bus and showed one of them discarding the machete. They had little choice but to plead guilty.' Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Lee, from Scotland Yard, said it had been a 'deeply troubling' case. She said: 'The harsh reality in London is that violence disproportionately affects young black men and boys. 'The fact we're seeing so many teenagers like Kelyan die should be at the forefront of the minds of every politician, every policy maker and everyone who wants better for children growing up in London. 'Without this collective effort, we won't be able to tackle knife crime in its entirety. 'And while I am pleased that Keylan's mother, Marie, has been spared the emotional turmoil of a trial, I know that she still desperately seeks to understand why three young lives could be considered so disposable.
